Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Maicci) president KK Eswaran has come under fire for claiming that Dr Mahathir Mohamad did nothing for the Indian community.

Cheras Umno division leader Syed Ali Albabshee termed Eswaran's claim as a baseless and mischievous allegation.

"What is true is Eswaran ( left ) is trying to curry favour even further with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak by coming up with ludicrous statements taking a whack at Mahathir.

"Mahathir has campaigned resolutely to maintain and strengthen racial harmony within Malaysia when he was the prime minister.

"And during his premiership, Mahathir always made generous allocations for the Indian community through the country's economic plans," Syed Ali said in a blog post.

He said just because Eswaran supports Najib, it does not warrant accusations and condemnation against Mahathir.

"I too support the prime minister, but I do not whack Mahathir.

"We cannot try to drive a wedge between the two leaders and Eswaran does not have the standing, in whichever manner, to do so either," he added.

How has Eswaran used funds?

Syed Ali then questioned Eswaran's contributions, asking if the funds he received from the government were used to uplift the Indian community.

"Besides a few capacity building seminars, we don't know how the money was used to empower and push the Indian community forward.

"Najib is going the extra mile to uplift the socio-economic status of the Indians even further.

"And since Mahathir also focused on emboldening the Indian community, I wonder why Eswaran has joined the fray to instigate deeper division between the ex-prime minister and Najib," Syed Ali added.